The 24th anniversary of the mass exodus of Kosovars from their homeland to the territory of North Macedonia was marked in Hani Elezit.
In the ceremony organized on this occasion, Skender Asani, director of the Institute of Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of Albanians – Skopje, said that the citizenship of Kosovo originates in this country.
“Albanians have suffered a lot over the centuries and their borders have been shaken. But, with the fight of the KLA and the help of the international community, Kosovo won its freedom. The historic cut took place in this very place where the Serbian machinery displaced 500 thousand Albanians. It is precisely the events of Bllaca in April 1999 that have made the international community close to the Albanians” – said Skënder Asani, director of the Institute of Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of Albanians.
Meanwhile, Mehmet Prishtina from the Hasan Prishtina Foundation, said that he returns here every year to remember those difficult days for Kosovo.
“I wish that our country turns its eyes from this center of genocide, an initiative that was launched by the Institute of Cultural Heritage and our order is that all such initiatives focus on the closest cooperation that our values, our suffering to express themselves here and one day a museum will be created in this center. Births took place here, marriages took place here, deaths took place here, and it is a sacred place for our nation,” he said.
The head of this municipality, Mehmet Ballazhi, compared Bllaca to the holocaust.
“We are here to remember the Serbian massacre of the Albanian people. This place resembles a holocaust. I am open for cooperation to build a memorial center here. I invite the Government to consider this request” – he emphasized.
All people present asked the two governments, that of Kosovo and that of North Macedonia, to set up a memorial center in Bllace that would keep alive what happened during the war, the exodus of Albanians, but also the hospitality of North Macedonia.
On this occasion, the Association for the Return of Albanians Displaced from Their Own Territories will award the “Hasan Prishtina” award to 24 municipalities, local communities, humanitarian associations, non-governmental organizations and media from North Macedonia, which have helped Kosovar refugees during the war. of the year 1998-99.
Also, an exhibition will be opened with 24 photographs of “Exodus 99” by Bllaca, Stenkoci and Çegran.
